Afghan Women’s Inclusion in Negotiations Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4097 To require a report on the participation of Afghan women in negotiations and dialogue relating to the Afghan peace process and a strategy for post-conflict engagement by the United States in Afghanistan, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. FRANKEL, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To require a report on the participation of Afghan women in negotiations and dialogue relating to the Afghan peace process and a strategy for post-conflict engagement by the United States in Afghanistan, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Afghan Women’s In- 4 clusion in Negotiations Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4097 IH (1) The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 1 2017 was signed into law on October 6, 2017, re- 2 quiring the United States Government to promote 3 the meaningful participation of women in all aspects 4 of overseas conflict prevention, management, and 5 resolution, and postconflict relief and recovery ef- 6 forts. 7 (2) The meaningful participation of women in 8 peace negotiations has been shown to make resulting 9 peace agreements 35 percent more likely to last, ac- 10 cording to the International Peace Institute, and 11 their sustained engagement and leadership in con- 12 flict prevention and conflict resolution processes 13 helps to promote more inclusive and democratic soci- 14 eties and is critical to the long-term stability of 15 countries and regions. 16 (3) The United States National Security Strat- 17 egy states, ‘‘governments that fail to treat women 18 equally do not allow their societies to reach their po- 19 tential’’ and ‘‘societies that empower women to par- 20 ticipate fully in civic and economic life are more 21 prosperous and peaceful’’. 22 (4) Today, millions of Afghan women have 23 voted in elections and women have a significant 24 presence in the National Assembly, ministries, local 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4097 IH government, and the diplomatic corps including as 1 Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States. 2 (5) According to the United States Institute of 3 Peace, more than 68,000 Afghan women are em- 4 ployed in schools and universities, and at least 5 10,000 women are doctors and health care profes- 6 sionals. 7 (6) Afghan women entrepreneurs have invested 8 an estimated $77 million in their businesses, cre- 9 ating 77,000 jobs for Afghans. 10 (7) In 2015, Afghanistan approved a National 11 Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to in- 12 crease women’s participation in peace processes and 13 the security sector as well as address issues around 14 protection and relief and recovery services. 15 (8) In 2018, Afghanistan reaffirmed its Law to 16 Eliminate Violence Against Women. 17 (9) Afghan women have advocated relentlessly 18 for peace, equality, and basic rights under the 19 Taliban, including by educating the next generation 20 of Afghans in underground schools and successfully 21 negotiating with the Taliban to reopen girls’ schools, 22 release hostages, and prevent violence. 23 (10) Afghan women participated in the 2001 24 Bonn International Conference on Afghanistan, par- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4097 IH ticipated alongside then-President Karzai at the 1 2010 National Consultative Peace Jirga on reconcili- 2 ation between the Afghan government and insurgent 3 leaders, served on the country’s Provincial Peace 4 Councils, and today serve on Afghanistan’s High 5 Peace Council. 6 (11) Through various coalitions, women have 7 mobilized to demand an immediate ceasefire and 8 their rightful seat at the table including through ral- 9 lies and consultations with communities across all of 10 Afghanistan’s provinces, including a ‘‘Peace Consult- 11 ative Loya Jirga’’ which brought together politi- 12 cians, tribal elders, and other prominent leaders to 13 decide on a common approach for peace talks with 14 the Taliban. 15 (12) Over the first seven rounds of bilateral 16 talks between the United States and the Taliban, 17 neither the Afghan Government nor Afghan women 18 or civil society groups were permitted to participate 19 in the negotiations. 20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 21 It is the sense of Congress that— 22 (1) corresponding with the Women, Peace, and 23 Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68) and the 24 U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4097 IH United States has a commitment to promoting the 1 meaningful participation of women throughout the 2 Afghan peace process; 3 (2) representatives of Afghan women, youth, 4 and other marginalized groups from rural and urban 5 provinces and especially from those most affected by 6 violence, should meaningfully participate and engage 7 in all peace talks, implementation commissions, and 8 other bodies if an agreement is reached, alongside 9 the Government of Afghanistan, the Afghan political 10 opposition, and the Taliban, and that their security 11 must be protected throughout and their concerns 12 prioritized in those respective agendas; 13 (3) training and gender expertise should be 14 made available to the United States mediators of the 15 peace talks and all participating delegations, includ- 16 ing one or more gender advisors with expertise in 17 structuring inclusive peace process and conflict me- 18 diation, and who have local language skills and me- 19 diation expertise to establish a safe communication 20 channel for engagement with and training of a di- 21 verse range of Afghan women’s groups; 22 (4) financial, technical, and logistical support, 23 including security precautions for their protection, 24 should be provided to women delegates to the talks, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4097 IH mediators, peace builders, and stakeholders, enabling 1 them to travel safely to and from the location of the 2 peace talks and to meaningfully participate; and 3 (5) a component of any international aid pack- 4 age that is awarded to Afghanistan as part of the 5 peace process should be directed to programming fo- 6 cused on gender equality and women’s empower- 7 ment, including for efforts to ensure that implemen- 8 tation of the peace agreement is shaped by gender 9 analysis, and that funds are made available as 10 grants for local Afghan women-led and women’s em- 11 powerment organizations as well as for education 12 and necessary services for women and girls. 13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall sub- 15 mit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 16 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela- 17 tions of the Senate not later than 30 days after the conclu- 18 sion of each round of negotiations relating to the Afghan 19 peace process an unclassified report, which may contain 20 a classified annex, relating to the peace process. 21 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re- 22 quired by subsection (a) shall include information, in ac- 23 cordance with the requirements of the Women, Peace, and 24 Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68), on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4097 IH (1) the participation of Afghan women and the 1 protection of their rights and gains; 2 (2) the actions of the Department of State and 3 other relevant Federal departments and agencies to 4 advance the priorities described in section 3, includ- 5 ing United States efforts to consult with and train 6 local women-led civil society organizations and to ad- 7 vocate for their inclusion and participation in na- 8 tional, provincial, and community-level peacebuild- 9 ing, conflict prevention, and post-conflict reconcili- 10 ation. 11 SEC. 5. STRATEGY FOR POST-CONFLICT ENGAGEMENT BY 12 THE UNITED STATES IN AFGHANISTAN. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 14 sultation with the Administrator of the United States 15 Agency for International Development and other relevant 16 Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the 17 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa- 18 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 19 ate not later than 120 days after a final Afghan Reconcili- 20 ation Agreement is reached, a strategy for post-conflict 21 engagement by the United States in Afghanistan to sup- 22 port the implementation of commitments for women and 23 girls’ inclusion and empowerment in the Agreement, as 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4097 IH well as to protect and promote basic human rights in Af- 1 ghanistan, especially the human rights of women and girls. 2 (b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—The Secretary of State 3 shall seek to ensure that activities carried out under the 4 strategy— 5 (1) employ rigorous monitoring and evaluation 6 methodologies, including ex-post evaluation, and gen- 7 der analysis as defined by the Women’s Entrepre- 8 neurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 9 (Public Law 115–428) and required by the U.S. 10 Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security; 11 (2) disaggregate all data collected and reported 12 by age, gender, marital and motherhood status, dis- 13 ability, and urbanity, to the extent practicable and 14 appropriate; and 15 (3) adhere to the Policy Guidance on Promoting 16 Gender Equality of the Department of State and the 17 Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy 18 of the United States Agency for International Devel- 19 opment. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS